suggestions for a series of “Choice Biographies.” 6 June 1877 to Howells,
Letters 1876–1880;
“The Late Benjamin Franklin,” SLC 1870c; Gribben 1980, 1:134, 241–43, 2:539–40;
MTB
, 3:1538.
15 . 18 Aug 1871 to OLC,
L4
, 446–47. He may have been reading Henry Wilson’s
Wonderful Characters; Comprising Memoirs and Anecdotes of the Most Remarkable Persons of Every Age and Nation
(1854). Among its subjects was Thomas Parr, who reputedly lived from 1483 to 1635.
16 . 9 Aug 1876 and 23? Mar 1877 to Howells,
Letters 1876–1880
. The manuscript is unfinished and untitled; Paine titled it “Autobiography of a Damned Fool” (SLC 1877b).
17 . 26 Feb 1880 to OC,
Letters 1876–1880
. Clemens would remember and rehearse his advice to Orion in his Autobiographical Dictation of 23 February 1906; see the note at 378.25–27 for a fuller account of Orion’s autobiography, which is now lost.
18 . Annie Adams Fields Papers, diary entry for 28 Apr 1876, MHi, published in Howe 1922, 250–51.
19 . See “John Hay,” note at 223.27–28, for a discussion of the possible date of this conversation. No such “diary” is known to survive, but some of the texts written in Vienna in 1898 have the look of diary entries. See “Four Sketches about Vienna.”
20 .
N&J2
, 50–51;
MTA
, 1:7.
21 . In 1940 DeVoto published a manuscript about Joseph H. Twichell’s encounter with a profane ostler which he described as “one of the random pieces that preceded Mark’s sustained work on the
Autobiography
,” suggesting that it was “probably written in the 1880s and at one time formed part of a long manuscript—I cannot tell which one” (
MTE
, 366–72). But this anecdote was not part of any draft of the autobiography. It was written for
Life on the Mississippi
(1883) and removed from the manuscript before publication.
22 . 6 May 1880 to OC,
Letters 1876–1880
.
23 . AD, 30 Aug 1906. Clemens said that he made this discovery while writing
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
, but there is good reason to suppose that he experienced the same difficulty in 1871 while writing
Roughing It
, even though he did not then know to “pigeonhole” the manuscript until the “tank” had refilled itself. See
RI 1993
, 823.
24 . Back in 1873 he had hired Samuel C. Thompson to accompany him to England as his secretary. Thompson was a novice at shorthand, and he was dismissed almost immediately when Clemens became dissatisfied with this “first experience in dictating.” He later explained, “I remember that my sentences came slow & painfully, & were clumsily phrased, & had no life in them—certainly no humor.” It also did not help that he found Thompson to be a humorless and unpleasant companion (
N&J1
, 517–18, Thompson’s notebook is on 526–71; “To Rev. S. C. Thompson,” SLC 1909a, 12). A later experiment with dictation came in the spring of 1882 when Clemens hired Roswell Phelps, a trained stenographer, to accompany him and James Osgood on their trip down the Mississippi. Phelps recorded Clemens’s (and others’) remarks at the time, but Clemens did not dictate to him when writing
Life on the Mississippi (N&J2
, 516–18, Phelps’s notebook is transcribed on 521–74).
25 .
N&J3
, 112. Clemens would eventually reproduce much of Susy’s biography in the final form of his autobiography, beginning with AD, 7 Feb 1906.
26 . Grant 1885a, 1885b, 1885c, and 1886; “Grant’s Last Stand,” Philadelphia
Inquirer
, 6 Feb 1894, unknown page; AD, 26 Feb 1906.
27 . Redpath to SLC, 4 May 1885, CU-MARK; 5 May 1885 to Redpath, MiU-H. See 4 Apr 1891 to Howells, NN-BGC, in
MTHL
, 2:641, quoted below in the section on the Florentine Dictations. Clemens’s earlier letter containing the proposal that Redpath accepted has not been found.
28 . 17 June 1885 to Pond, NN-BGC; 12 Sept 1885 to Redpath, CU-MARK.
29 . 11 Sept 1885 to Beecher, draft in CU-MARK. Beecher was then preparing a eulogy for Grant to be delivered in Boston on 22 October
Letters 1876–1880;
“The Late Benjamin Franklin,” SLC 1870c; Gribben 1980, 1:134, 241–43, 2:539–40;
MTB
, 3:1538.
15 . 18 Aug 1871 to OLC,
L4
, 446–47. He may have been reading Henry Wilson’s
Wonderful Characters; Comprising Memoirs and Anecdotes of the Most Remarkable Persons of Every Age and Nation
(1854). Among its subjects was Thomas Parr, who reputedly lived from 1483 to 1635.
16 . 9 Aug 1876 and 23? Mar 1877 to Howells,
Letters 1876–1880
. The manuscript is unfinished and untitled; Paine titled it “Autobiography of a Damned Fool” (SLC 1877b).
17 . 26 Feb 1880 to OC,
Letters 1876–1880
. Clemens would remember and rehearse his advice to Orion in his Autobiographical Dictation of 23 February 1906; see the note at 378.25–27 for a fuller account of Orion’s autobiography, which is now lost.
18 . Annie Adams Fields Papers, diary entry for 28 Apr 1876, MHi, published in Howe 1922, 250–51.
19 . See “John Hay,” note at 223.27–28, for a discussion of the possible date of this conversation. No such “diary” is known to survive, but some of the texts written in Vienna in 1898 have the look of diary entries. See “Four Sketches about Vienna.”
20 .
N&J2
, 50–51;
MTA
, 1:7.
21 . In 1940 DeVoto published a manuscript about Joseph H. Twichell’s encounter with a profane ostler which he described as “one of the random pieces that preceded Mark’s sustained work on the
Autobiography
,” suggesting that it was “probably written in the 1880s and at one time formed part of a long manuscript—I cannot tell which one” (
MTE
, 366–72). But this anecdote was not part of any draft of the autobiography. It was written for
Life on the Mississippi
(1883) and removed from the manuscript before publication.
22 . 6 May 1880 to OC,
Letters 1876–1880
.
23 . AD, 30 Aug 1906. Clemens said that he made this discovery while writing
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
, but there is good reason to suppose that he experienced the same difficulty in 1871 while writing
Roughing It
, even though he did not then know to “pigeonhole” the manuscript until the “tank” had refilled itself. See
RI 1993
, 823.
24 . Back in 1873 he had hired Samuel C. Thompson to accompany him to England as his secretary. Thompson was a novice at shorthand, and he was dismissed almost immediately when Clemens became dissatisfied with this “first experience in dictating.” He later explained, “I remember that my sentences came slow & painfully, & were clumsily phrased, & had no life in them—certainly no humor.” It also did not help that he found Thompson to be a humorless and unpleasant companion (
N&J1
, 517–18, Thompson’s notebook is on 526–71; “To Rev. S. C. Thompson,” SLC 1909a, 12). A later experiment with dictation came in the spring of 1882 when Clemens hired Roswell Phelps, a trained stenographer, to accompany him and James Osgood on their trip down the Mississippi. Phelps recorded Clemens’s (and others’) remarks at the time, but Clemens did not dictate to him when writing
Life on the Mississippi (N&J2
, 516–18, Phelps’s notebook is transcribed on 521–74).
25 .
N&J3
, 112. Clemens would eventually reproduce much of Susy’s biography in the final form of his autobiography, beginning with AD, 7 Feb 1906.
26 . Grant 1885a, 1885b, 1885c, and 1886; “Grant’s Last Stand,” Philadelphia
Inquirer
, 6 Feb 1894, unknown page; AD, 26 Feb 1906.
27 . Redpath to SLC, 4 May 1885, CU-MARK; 5 May 1885 to Redpath, MiU-H. See 4 Apr 1891 to Howells, NN-BGC, in
MTHL
, 2:641, quoted below in the section on the Florentine Dictations. Clemens’s earlier letter containing the proposal that Redpath accepted has not been found.
28 . 17 June 1885 to Pond, NN-BGC; 12 Sept 1885 to Redpath, CU-MARK.
29 . 11 Sept 1885 to Beecher, draft in CU-MARK. Beecher was then preparing a eulogy for Grant to be delivered in Boston on 22 October
Similar Books
